Asia-Pacific Archives

Thai Province Shows the Green Way

As fingers of morning light slip through the mango and banana orchards of his village, Suchin Utanarat heads out in a boat to net a fresh catch from the nearby canals teeming with shrimp.

Zarmine Baloch holding the photo of her slain brother Sangat Sana outside the Karachi Press Club. Credit: Fahim Siddiqi/IPS

‘Human Rights Hell’ in Balochistan Inflames Separatist Sentiments

By Zofeen Ebrahim

"We want our homeland; we want freedom from Pakistan and will fight till our last breath," said Zarmine Baloch (23), veiled from head to toe with just her eyes showing.

Japanese Women Empowered By Tohoku Quake

By Suvendrini Kakuchi and - -

Devastating as the Tohoku earthquake was it gave the local women of the remote region an opportunity to come into their own and take on leadership roles in an essentially patriarchal country.

Malaysians Fight Radioactive Waste From Oz

By Baradan Kuppusamy

Malaysians protesting against an Australian-owned rare earth refinery, that will generate radioactive waste, are determined to agitate until the project is abandoned.

Speaker Ali Larijani had to contend with many unhappy deputies who say fraud and "unethical destructive conduct" were responsible for their defeats. Credit: Parmida Rahimi/CC BY 2.0

The Tale of Iran’s “Critical” Election

By Farideh Farhi and - -

Iran's Mar. 2 parliamentary elections were touted by many Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the most "critical" event since the establishment of the Islamic Republic 33 years ago.

Speaker Ali Larijani had to contend with many unhappy deputies who claimed publicly that fraud and "unethical destructive conduct" were responsible for their defeats. Credit: Parmida Rahimi/CC BY 2.0

The Tale of Iran’s “Critical” Election

By Farideh Farhi

Iran's Mar. 2 parliamentary elections were touted by many Iranian officials, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the most "critical" event since the establishment of the Islamic Republic 33 years ago.

Malaysians Fight Radioactive Waste From Oz

By Baradan Kuppusamy

Malaysians protesting against an Australian-owned rare earth refinery, that will generate radioactive waste, are determined to agitate until the project is abandoned.

Pakistan’s Hospitals That Come Home

By Ashfaq Yusufzai

With no money to see a doctor, Gul Lakhta,50, had resigned himself to blindness when a ‘mobile hospital’ drove into his village in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on Pakistan’s rugged border with Afghanistan.

At a mobile hospital camp Credit: Ashfaq Yusufzai/IPS

Hospitals That Come Home

By Ashfaq Yusufzai and - -

With no money to see a doctor, Gul Lakhta,50, had resigned himself to blindness when a ‘mobile hospital’ drove into his village in the Bajaur Agency of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), on Pakistan’s rugged border with Afghanistan.

More Japanese Turn Against Whaling

By Suvendrini Kakuchi

The arrest and release of a Dutch activist in Japan has put in bad light this country’s refusal to heed international calls to limit traditional dolphin and whale hunting practices in favour of conservation.

Suicides Soar in Kashmir

By Sana Altaf

On Feb. 6, a young girl committed suicide by swallowing poison at her home in Kashmir. A few weeks later a teenaged girl from Srinagar hung herself at her residence.

Suicides Soar in Kashmir

By Sana Altaf

On Feb. 6, a young girl committed suicide by swallowing poison at her home in Kashmir. A few weeks later a teenaged girl from Srinagar hung herself at her residence.

India’s Girl Child Struggles to Survive

By Sujoy Dhar

At the intensive care unit of the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi, a two-year-old battered baby girl is fighting to survive.

North Korea’s Pivot

By John Feffer

After three years of frozen relations between North Korea and the United States, the two longstanding adversaries are on the verge of a thaw.

India’s Girl Child Struggles to Survive

By Sujoy Dhar

At the intensive care unit of the state-run All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) hospital in New Delhi, a two-year-old battered baby girl is fighting to survive.

INDIA: Kashmir Missing Its ‘Demographic Dividend’

By Athar Parvaiz

Kashmir is missing out on a ‘demographic dividend’ and unable to cash in on its youthful population for lack of initiatives from a state government bogged down by a two-decade-old armed insurgency.

Sri Lanka Rattled by Planned UN Rights Resolution

By Amantha Perera and - -

Strung across the main road leading away from the international airport is a banner that has an intriguing message: ‘USA, Pls Do Not Support Terrorism’.

A group of Kashmiri university students. Credit: Athar Parvaiz/IPS

INDIA: Kashmir Missing Its ‘Demographic Dividend’

By Athar Parvaiz and - -

Kashmir is missing out on a ‘demographic dividend’ and unable to cash in on its youthful population for lack of initiatives from a state government bogged down by a two-decade-old separatist insurgency.

‘When’ to Attack Iran, Not ‘If’

By Pierre Klochendler and - -

"The quiet before the storm" is how Israeli pundits describe the countdown – not to Israel going solo on Iran’s nuclear and military installations, but to the meeting between due Monday next week between U.S. President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Sri Lanka Rattled by Planned UN Rights Resolution

By Amantha Perera

Strung across the main road leading away from the international airport is a banner that has an intriguing message: ‘USA, Pls Do Not Support Terrorism’.